


And the Three Shall Be One

by primeideal



Category: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: Book 12: The Gathering Storm, Book 13: Towers of Midnight, F/M, Gen, Meeting the Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:01:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24323977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/primeideal/pseuds/primeideal
Summary: When your birth is foretold by ancient prophecies, you don't always get the luxury of typical courtship rituals.
Relationships: Rand al'Thor/Aviendha/Min Farshaw/Elayne Trakand
Kudos: 10





	And the Three Shall Be One

**Author's Note:**

> _Tam chuckled. "It's been three days, Rand. I've already met her."_ \- Towers of Midnight, Chapter 13

"Ah, there you are!" Bennae smiled pleasantly. Perhaps too pleasantly, like a spider surprised to find prey in her web. "I hope I find you well."

Elayne nodded. "Very well, Aes Sedai, if tired from my studies."

"Yes, of course," said Bennae. "Your studies. That is what I hoped to speak of."

"I understand I have responsibilities to teach novice classes," said Elayne. "Sheriam Sedai has not given me a schedule yet. Do you think you could speak to her for me?"

"Ah. You are quite strong in the Power, Daughter, and you will certainly be a fine example for the novices. But there is much you do not know of the Tower, and it would not be right to burden you with the responsibilities of a teacher just yet."

Elayne hid her laughter. Aes Sedai would stop burdening Accepted with responsibilities when the sun turned blue. What Bennae would not say is that she, and the other sisters, did not want Elayne embarrassing women who had been in white for five years when she first came to the White Tower. Aes Sedai might not speak of rank, but they seemed to remember every nuance of it.

"Thank you," Elayne demured. "I hope I will have time to study some of the Healing weaves." She did not intend to choose the Yellow, but no matter where she journeyed, there would be wounds that needed to be bound up. And it was easier than saying she wanted to study destructive weaves of power that could destroy the Black Ajah.

"An Aes Sedai is more than her strength in the Power, Daughter. She must be ready to speak truth fearlessly, and and well-grounded in knowledge."

Bennae was of the Brown, of course, and no doubt prattled just as much to Egwene and Nynaeve about why it was important to learn history. But there was something more that Bennae wanted: the same thing that every other Aes Sedai in the Tower wanted. The chance to shape a student who would not only be a strong Aes Sedai in her own right, but--if the Light willed--someday be the Queen of Andor.

Elayne's mother had been granted the ring, not because of her ability, but because she was the Daughter-Heir. The same went for generations of queens. The ruling houses changed, mostly peacefully and occasionally through violence, but Andor's loyalty to the White Tower had never faltered. No doubt the Tower expected it to be repaid in turn once Elayne sat on the Lion Throne.

Well, that day was far off yet. "I hope to gain knowledge of many lands, not just my own." Especially if the Amyrlin had her travelling the world to hunt down the Black Ajah. Siuan Sanche had not wanted Elayne herself to get involved, but the Shadow did not care about deferring to the Daughter-Heir.

"And so you shall," said Bennae. "Both of the current political situation, and their past. Come along." Elayne had little choice but to follow her up and up the flights of stairs towards the Brown Ajah quarters. They didn't have to climb that far, thankfully, before Bennae escorted her into a small classroom, leaving the door open as if to ensure passersby that they were not learning any forbidden weaves.

 _The nations' past and present._ It occurred to Elayne that what an Aes Sedai thought of as the recent past might be generations gone for others. They were no Ogier, to be sure, but once they had the ageless face they might live for a century or two. Would she sit on the throne watching her grandchildren live and die?

She would need to be careful how she phrased it--Aes Sedai were every bit as touchy about age as they were about rank--but perhaps she could get more out of Bennae then why Andor had been in the wrong during the Third Winter War. "Did you know my mother?"

Bennae gave a slight smile. "We are washed clean of our former lives, here, unless you speak of Mother Elaida."

This was a pretense even more absurd than avoiding age or rank; everyone knew Elayne was the Daughter-Heir. Why, even the Amyrlin herself factored it into her decisions. "But surely you must teach many--many students who will not gain the shawl."

"Well, certainly," said Bennae. "Not everyone can channel _saidar_ , but if you ask me, anyone would be wiser from learning how and when to meditate and surrender. In fact--" She trailed off. Browns had a way of doing that, made worse when they were surrounded by stacks of their own notes.

"Yes?" Elayne said, after pausing a few moments for propriety.

"You make me think of a novice," said Bennae, "who was as diligent as any in performing the exercises, though she could not channel a lick. She read, too, learned enough of the Old Tongue to gloss some of the simpler prophecies. Though why anyone would want to do that..."

This did not sound like Morgase. Elayne's mother was a woman used to having her own way, and even in her novice years, Elayne could not imagine her having been particularly diligent at attending to chores. Perhaps during one of the Succession Wars, when there was no way of telling who might take the throne, and any ambitious young princess could have considered herself a potential queen?

"Was she of a major house?" Elayne asked cautiously.

"But of course! Tigraine of House Mantear? Why, to see her at her chores, you'd think she'd never had a task to set herself to before. I remember dear Laras would fret that she wasn't eating well..."

It did not surprise Elayne to hear that Laras had still been a busybody a generation before, but she was distracted from the rest of Bennae's reminiscences. Tigraine Mantear--Galad's birth mother, and the Daughter-Heir whose disappearance had triggered the recent war that put Trakand on the throne. Elayne had seen portraits of the woman, but in the Royal Palace, she was spoken of either with pity or disdain. Was she a madwoman or a Darkfriend, to have disappeared without a word?

The woman Bennae described seemed a model Daughter-Heir, obedient to duty, perhaps grateful for direction. And Bennae, absentminded as she was, had to tell the truth as she knew it.

 _Does she?_ Elayne asked herself. Anyone could be of the Black Ajah. Perhaps this was another elaborate scheme, a clue mentioned in feigned casualness to lead her astray.

But perhaps it was not. Maybe Tigraine had been no different from Elayne herself, a young initiate caught up in a changing world.

* * *

In the swirl of sparks that always surrounded Cadsuane, Min made out a new image. The Aes Sedai was holding her Great Serpent ring out, as if presenting it to a suitor, or examining it before using it as a signet. She thought the second possibility was more likely, but who could say with Cadsuane?

The _Commentary on the Dragon_ had not told her much, but it did tell her that the Foretellings of thousands of years before were just as cryptic as her own. Merely knowing that something would come to pass--if the Pattern itself did not unravel--brought her little closer to explaining where and how. People might think her visions a great gift, but they brought her trouble. At least she was not the only person to have been confused.

"Pshaw!" said Cadsuane. "The boy will break the world again, if he so chooses. Myself, I have some embroidery to be about."

Min knew her well enough to take that as a polite dismissal. She nodded politely, and left Cadsuane's quarters. Perhaps there was something in the Heart of the Stone that could tell her about _Callandor_. Tear had stood for generations, fearing channellers and yet hoarding objects of Power along the great _sa'angreal_.

She heard footsteps falling into place alongside her, and slowed to see Tam al'Thor approach. He nodded deferentially, but seemed as unyielding as stone carved of one piece. "Are you also of Cadsuane's party?"

"Her party?" Min echoed. "I travel with Rand. When he allows me."

Tam gave a faint smile at his son's name. "Nynaeve Sedai has not the look of the elders. I was just curious."

"If you think I am an Aes Sedai, I fear you are much mistaken. Even a sheepherder could not be so wool-headed." Tam looked bemused, and she regretted her words. He had been yanked across the world, reunited with his son after over a year, only to see Rand try to kill him. "Pardon me," she went on. "I am used to pleasant teasing."

"Ah," said Tam. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course!"

"If you are not an Aes Sedai, how do you know where Rand is?"

Min blushed. "We have our own sort of bond. I cannot weave, but some--dear friends--of ours helped link us together."

"Peace! I am glad if you know he is--safe, and well. More than most of us can do, these days."

"He carries many wounds," said Min. "He always has. But he still stands." For the moment. If he broke, would the bond tell her first, or would the land itself give way?

The man was calm for someone who had nearly been killed with the One Power. Well, he was no stranger to death; he had been a soldier, hadn't he? "You taught him about the flame and the void," Min went on. "Did you ever know anyone who could channel?"

"He's spoken to you of this? I was not aware I was so famous."

"He speaks to me of many things," Min said squarely. "I love him, madness or not, and I intend to marry him. In the Aiel fashion, if need be. Er--that is, sometimes, when several women--" Light! It was enough that Rand made her act a fool. Did she have to babble about him even when he was not there? Surely Tam was not also _ta'veren_.

"Do not presume what I know of Aiel," he said, the corners of his eyes nearly relaxing. "I don't believe I have had the honor of your name?"

Oh. She blushed, but there were worse missteps. "Min Farshaw."

"Min." He nodded politely. "I suppose you know I am Tam al'Thor."

"I suppose so," said Min. "Though I wish we had met in better circumstances."

"There must be many new acquaintances saying the same, these days." It was simply the way of the world, he seemed to say. Perhaps it was not what the Pattern would have willed if it had a choice, or what he nor her nor anyone wanted to see, but it was the truth. You could accept an unpleasant truth, without being resigned to it.

"I'm sorry you had to--" See his son? If she could bear Rand's pain from afar, surely Tam would want to in his own way. The love of parent and child was just as enduring and resilient as the different sort of love Rand shared with her, and Elayne and Aviendha. "Cadsuane should not have used you."

"There is no shame in following a worthy leader," said Tam. "But that woman--" He checked himself, but Min did not need any powers to guess his mood. Cadsuane had that effect on kings and sheepherders alike.

"Could you ask her to make one of those Gateways back the way I came?" he went on. "I ought to be with my men."

"I could," said Min. "But ask her one thing, and she'll go racing to do the opposite. Besides--I think you should stay. Rand will know where to find me, here."

"He does not want to," Tam said quietly.

She thought of the images she had seen around him--another man fading into him until they disappeared. Semirhage had spoken of madness, that a voice claiming to be Lews Therin spoke in Rand's head. Then she had used him, controlled him with the dark bracelet. The--force--that had choked her had not been him. It was not!

And yet, someone had attacked Tam, made the blademaster anguished and terrified. Who was she to assume Rand's love for her ran deeper than blood or despair, when his love for his father did not? "I will speak to her, but it is your decision."

He nodded, and suddenly, there were colors shining around him. A man with the legs of a heron, whose head fell off and rolled away. Another head grew in its place, and he knelt before Tam. What under the Light?

There was no making sense of such a viewing. It was enough to know that the man might have a future, that the Pattern might not be finished weaving. They might all have futures, if Rand persevered.

* * *

Aviendha woke from the dream.

Not the Dream. She lived, and returned to sleep in her own body and prepare for the test ahead. It was no easy thing to become a Wise One. Particularly not for a women who had recently been _Far Dareis Mai_. The Maidens were a close-knit sisterhood, bound by their honor and their marriage to the spear. To be separated from those bonds must have been almost as difficult as taking them on in the first place, and that itself was an ordeal. Particularly for one not accustomed to the harshness of the Three-fold Land.

Shaiel remembered being Nakomi of the Da'shain Aiel, and Calian who was called the Chooser, and even Tigraine of House Mantear. Today, though, she felt closest to Shaiel, who had seen the glories of the wetlands but thought them little besides the _ji_ that came from being part of the People of the Dragon.

Aviendha was strong-willed. She had served her apprenticeship and learned to see herself the equal of a Wise One, so she was not afraid to speak what she believed to be true. But much of what she had been taught was like the seals of the Dark One's prison. Strong and enduring, as it had to be, yet not something you could carry into a new Age. Aviendha would need to learn to set aside what was no longer needed, while holding to _ji'e'toh_ and the best of the Aiel.

Some of the clans were already scattered; many Shaido spoke of returning to the Three-Fold Land, and some of the _Mera'din_ joined them. Shaiel saw little of herself in women like Sevanna and Therava, who thought monarchy and fine jewelry the best the wetlands had to offer, but she tried not to judge them too strongly from her peaceful dreams. The Light willing, they would live other lifetimes, and perhaps come to see the customs they had once taken a shine to as strangely as the _Mera'din_ saw the Way of the Leaf.

The thought of keeping _gai'shain_ in white with no release chilled her, though, even Darkfriends. Some--too many--souls sought out the Shadow for their own gain, but there were those like _Samma N'Sei_ who had been twisted and turned to the dark. And Luc. Dear Luc, who had followed Gitara's warnings into the Blight and met a fate worse than death because of it. Some part of him was still Shivan, but it might take another Age for him to be spun out as his own free person again.

Time was different in _Tel'aran'rhiod_. She knew Artur's admiration and grief for what had become of his children's children, Birgitte's loneliness when Gaidal was spun anew, and Rogosh's eagerness for battle, but could not mark them in terms of days or years.

But there would be a future, she trusted. Not because she was outside of time, nor because the _Car'a'carn_ had come from her blood, but because he was surrounded by people like Aviendha who would guide him when she could not. He would choose well, for the world's sake.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't take credit for the Nakomi=Shaiel=Calian theory but it's the best I've heard for making sense of Nakomi.


End file.
